Subtraction Games and Activities

Play the subtraction games to...

Write and solve subtraction story problems using the subtraction strategies.

You will see subtraction word problems in any situations where there is a loss or a decrease of something as a result of deducting a number from another. Think of subtraction as removing parts from a whole.

So.... that is fancy talk for " subtraction means making a whole something a smaller something".

Story problems can be make engaging by making up easily that are relevant to your child. For example, my son loves video games and is saving up for a new game. I might ask him if he went to the store to buy the video game and the game was $45.00 would he have enough? Would he have any left? How much more does he need?

1. Change some of your everyday wording. Use the word "take away", "remove , or "subtract" more often. For example, at the grocery store when one of my children put something in the cart that we are not buying I might say " please subtract those cookies from the cart" or " will you subtract the groceries from the car?" It sounds silly, but you can spend a day or two doing it and really hit the idea home that subtraction means reducing a whole.

NOTE: On a day when I want to use "subtract", I put a sticky on my steering wheel that says "SUBTRACT". Every time I get in the car it reminds me that today we use the word "subtract" as much as we can!

2. Give your child the answer to a problem and have them make up a story problem to match the answer.

For example: I say "15 carmels". Now your child makes up a story problem in which the answer will be 15 carmels. " I bought a bag of 25 carmels. I ate 5 at the store and 5 when I got home. How many did I have left?

3 Things Rule:

**I encourage my children to make story problems with at least 3 things going on...in the above example, we started with 25 carmels then we ate 5 then we ate 5 more. We could have just said we ate 10 carmels but, by breaking it into 2-5's it requires more thinking and prepares them for problems that aren't straight forward.

Use subtraction key words when you are making up your stories ( use what you feel is appropriate):

Subtract, difference, take away, less than, are not, remain, decreased by, have or are left, change (money problems), more

Have fun playing these subtraction games!

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